The 2023-24 season didn’t start the way the Philadelphia 76ers had hoped. James Harden remained behind as they hit the road to face the Milwaukee Bucks and ended up losing a close game that they led in the fourth quarter. But there was a massive silver lining: Tyrese Maxey hooped.

Maxey lived up to the lofty expectations the Sixers laid out for him, ending the night with team-highs of 31 points and eight assists plus four rebounds, two steals and not a single turnover. He shot 10-22 from the field and 8-10 from the free-throw line as he matched his career-high in free-throw attempts.

Nick Nurse helped open up the floor for him and he took advantage. After a rough first quarter in which he had two fouls and two points, Maxey turned up and dominated the rest of the way. Shots from deep, slick passes to set up looks for Embiid, aggressive drives to the rim — everything was clicking for the young rising star.

Damian Lillard owned the show in his Bucks debut with 39 points, eight boards and four dimes. But Maxey's production —paired with a scorching hot shooting exhibition from Kelly Oubre Jr., who tallied 27 points on 9-11 shooting — uplifted the Sixers while Joel Embiid had an off night.

“Well, he got off to a super slow start obviously with the foul trouble. He was out early but we ended up being able to play him pretty much the rest of the game,” Nurse said in his postgame media availability. “I thought he did a great job of getting downhill and drawing contact and getting in the lane and all that stuff. He stayed aggressive. He didn't really have it going there for a long stretch and for him to bounce back and just kind of start get it going with everything — started making some shots, started making some layups, started getting hit a lot when he was driving. So, that was good.”

Tyrese Maxey will have another big test ahead of him when the Sixers face the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Full of long, tough defenders and devoid of guards that are easy to pick on defensively, the young guard will have to keep up his high level of play.